The Best And Worst Of WWE NXT 9/20/17: Through Being Cool

Previously on the Best and Worst of WWE NXT: We still have no idea what’s happening with the NXT Women’s Championship. I’m sure that will change this week!

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And now, the Best and Worst of WWE NXT for September 20, 2017.

Worst: Handsome Boy

Last week, we had to suffer through a Johnny Gargano/Riddick Moss match. The contest itself was hot garbage, but it advanced Gargano’s “maybe I can’t go as a singles star” storyline. Tonight, we get the thrilling conclusion, when Gargano beats Moss’ tag partner, handsome boy Tino Sabatelli, with ease.

This match didn’t suck nearly as bad as last week — mainly because Sabatelli appears to have paid attention in wrestling school and isn’t just one of those old M.U.S.C.L.E. figures left in the sun too long like Moss — but for whatever reason, Gargles has zero problems this week with scoring the win via the Gargano Escape. Why would you have the better wrestler of the tag team lose more definitively? Are we protecting Riddick f*cking Moss now?

Supplemental Worst for Sabatelli hitting a gorgeous powerslam from over the top rope, then not going for the cover. Jesus christ, guys.
Best: The In Between

If you read spoilers, you may have a better idea than I do (I’ve seen some off-hand comments here and there), but officially, we still have no clue what’s happening with the NXT Women’s Championship. This episode did a nice job of keeping some women in the spotlight while they figure things out, though.

Lacey Evans and Bianca Belair — two Mae Young Classic combatants who were ousted in the second round by Toni Storm and Kairi Sane, respectively — put on a really nice match that at times felt more like I was playing Mortal Kombat than watching wrestling. (Seriously, there were some sequences here that felt straight out of a video game, especially those involving Evans’ leg sweeps.) The two weren’t afraid to lay into each other, either; Evans’ hard right hand into a super-stiff clothesline popped me good, and Belair’s hair whip setting up her reverse powerbomb/faceplant finisher looked (and sounded) painful. Eventually, they’re gonna have to put Belair with her fiance, Montez Ford, right? Those two could run things in NXT if booked correctly.

Beyond that match, we heard from two more women, Sonya Deville and Dakota Kai, each who made bold proclamations that they were coming for the title. I can’t believe Deville is only 23 — her promos are natural and fierce. I’m ready to see her wreck shop on some poor, unfortunate soul soon.

As for Dakota Kai: She has an awesome look, a great name and a killer theme song. I hope she’s allowed to get more offense in whenever we see her in NXT, though; her Mae Young Classic victories over Kavita Devi and Rhea Ripley were booked as extended squashes that she somehow managed to eke out wins. (Seriously, go back and watch them — you can count her offensive moves on one hand.) But I definitely want to see more of her in the ring soon.

Best: Freakish

If you’ve been reading B&W of NXT since I took over earlier this year, you know that I am a fan of Aleister Black, but I’ve also been critical of his extreme lack of storylines and character development. Well holy hell did all that change here.

So Black comes out in a dapper-looking suit and begins cutting his first-ever NXT promo. It’s nothing super-special to be honest; he says he’s been on a 15-year journey to get here, and that his “scars” (presumably his tattoos?) represent stops along the way. Before he can get too far into it, he’s interrupted by the Velveteen Dream, wearing an absolutely ridiculous skin-tight crop top and gigantic hoop earrings. While Dream’s promo was a bit head-scratching (“Pain is scribbled on your skin like lies” — what the f*ck does that mean? Is the dude writing lyrics for From First To Last now something?), his body language was incredible, and when he gets to close to Black for comfort, the dude kick’s the microphone right out of Dream’s hand.

Dream’s response, in GIF form:

Amazing.

Moments prior, Dream said Black’s biggest problem was fear, and to prove his own fearlessness, he seductively gets down to Black’s level and nearly kisses him before slinking out of the ring and mouthing over and over again, “I forgive you.” I loved this segment. Y’all know how iffy I’ve been on Velveteen Dream since the gimmick began, but if this is the direction his character is going — one in which he is above gender, and uses his supreme self-confidence to unnerve even the most stone-cold protagonists — I am into it. It’s a very tricky line to walk, though; I could see Dream demanding that people use gender-neutral pronouns to refer to him from now on or something, and seeing is how he’s being set up as a threatening heel, it could lead to people booing the sexually non-conformist character in favor of traditional gender norms. That is one sticky-ass wicket.

Good luck telling the story, though, because I want to see more.

Best: Certain Tragedy

LOL. No Way Jose got trucked by Lars Sullivan, as well he should have. (Death to false conga lines.) Dude is 6’3″ and 300 pounds and hit a diving goddamn headbutt of the top goddamn rope. I don’t know where they’re going with this genetic freak, but I look forward to seeing who he demolishes next.

Best: Stay What You Are

Can anyone explain to me how Tyler Bate is so good at everything he does? He is 20. TWENTY. I couldn’t cook a meal for myself at age 20. This dude’s winning championships and growing mustaches and tearing the house down at WWE events. (Maybe he’s a bad cook too; that would make me feel better.)

So Tyler, please: Never change, except to get better. Everything the dude does is so crisp and powerful. His hot tag sequence in this episode’s main event against Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish was gorgeous. When O’Reilly reversed Bate’s Tiger Bomb into a guillotine choke and then Bate just stands up? UNGH. Dude makes my loins tingle.

Trent Seven, on the other hand, looks like someone’s dad — the kind whose intentions are good but ultimately gets in the way of his son succeeding and mucks things up. (I guess I know what I’m bringing up in therapy this week.) Bate and Seven should have the match won, but Adam Cole delivers a hell of a superkick to Bate on the outside, leaving the weaker member of his team to get doubled up by Fish and O’Reilly for the loss. The right team won, and more importantly, the right person was pinned.

Afterward, a shirtless Drew McIntyre in jeans and sneakers comes out to scare Ring Of Dishonor off, into the waiting arms of SAnitY, who gets a receipt for their beatdown last week. NXT goes off the air with the champs standing united, which was an unusual image, but one that indicates we are officially supposed to be cheering for these post-apocalyptic maniacs now. I guess this means there will be no rematch against Authors Of Pain, so look for them to show up on Smackdown Live and dismantle the New Day any week now.

Next Week: Uh, presumably there will be an episode. But in two weeks, we get Drew McIntyre vs. Roddy Strong for the NXT Championship, so that’s something!

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